1
CRESCENT
My cracked scream rolled like daggers up my parched throat, carving out a plea for mercy.
Booted feet marched unflinchingly against my tide of protest—the cries, the begging, the full weight of my body thrown futilely against the power of an alpha’s aura. My arms were held behind my back in a grip so tight that every thudding step shot pain through my shoulders.
The blinding white of the ancient lights above buzzed and flickered, as if in time to the march of the boots dragging me down the grungy hall. It was alien to me, my eyes more used to stone ceilings and warm Edison bulbs.
I felt small and so stupid. A cursed, touch starved omega who’d been foolish enough to dream she might deserve a pack one day.
One that might cherish her and cuddle her.
But there was nothing to cherish.
The spinning world slowed as we halted, and I looked up at the huge, thick metal doors before me.
“Kill me!”The breathless plea spilled out before I could stop it. I twisted my head to look at the guards, but their faces were concealed behind their helmets. “P-please!” They had guns—itwould be so easy to save the alphas down there from me. “Just t-tell them I died in there.”
They wanted me to curse a thousand alphas—to make me more of a sinner than I already was.
Dying now was better.
There was a pause as one helmet turned slightly, as if he were taking me in fully, and a flutter of hope soared in my chest.
But then he elbowed a button on the wall and the thick metal split like a hungry mouth to reveal a small space.
He used his grip on my wrists to push me in.
“NO!”
I frantically yanked my arms free, turning to flee the vile metal box.
He shoved me back, and I hit the wall with such force that I crumpled. My breath caught, but I tried to stand, launching myself toward the doors as they closed.
Too slow.
Another desperate, broken scream tore from my chest as my fingers grappled with the thick metal, as if to somehow stop it from shutting.
It was the splattered red stains upon the metal’s surface that caused me to recoil at the last second before its resounding slam. A promise that the heavy doors held no mercy for flesh or bone. The last things I saw before it shut were the empty masks of the guards beyond.
I was left in silence.
I turned, clutching myself, my aching eyes grateful for the dim light in the tiny, bare room. The walls on either side of me were made of stone, but the one in front was made of the same thick metal slab that had just shut me in. I knew what it was—a special metal strong enough to withstand the strongest alpha.
I pressed myself against the doors at my back just as a red light flashed.
My eyes darted to the large digital timer on the wall above, and my heart sank.
Ten…
I stared in shock at the slim, glowing red lines, but even as I watched, it flickered down to nine.
A countdown to my death.
No—worse than death.
I clutched my temples, heart pounding.
